Introduced in 2005 at the 39th Tokyo Motor Show, the Concept X was unveiled. Finally making its production runs in 2007 through 2016 with its demise. The evolution X came with an all new 4b11T turbo engine with at least 276 hp that replaced its predecessor, the 4G63T. With that said, the engine can handle close to 400hp with a stock bottom end and it is slightly and overall a better engine compared to the 4g63T engine on a stock-to-stock comparison. But, just how reliable is the Evo X?

Today, I will be going over the common issues that may come up during your ownership of this car and help educate you on your future purchase,

let us get started!

Plastic Clutch Master Cylinder:

in the 5 speed transmissions, the master cylinder is made up of mainly plastic and its connected to the rear firewall and it can fail completely. If that happens, you will not be able to actuate the clutch. So, you should upgrade the master cylinder and you will be good to go.

Knocking noise from the front suspension: during corners, you may hear knocking noises in the front suspension. You will need to basically lubricate your front suspension struts to get rid of the noise, which is easy to do. Along the same topic, the Bilstein dampers can break. If you are still experiencing the knocking noise or just an odd noise, then most likely the damper has reached its limits and you should replace or rebuild it.

Fuel Pump Relay:

The fuel pump relay goes bad over time and there is an upgraded blue one that will fix this issue with this Part number: 8627A024. The problem mainly occurred in the early models.

Pre-2011 cars: The pre 2011 Evo X cars have two main issues that would deter me from buying these years, first it is the diff pin issue. Basically, the diff pins will snap and fail. A few symptoms you may have is more noise coming from the diff, rattling and finally a puddly of diff fluid on the ground. This can ultimately destroy your diff, and all this can happen very fast. Second is the timing chain issue:  basically, the timing chain stretches over time and would throw the code P0012, and usually under 50k miles.  The idly may start to flutter and you will have a decrease in power and efficiency. The only fix to this is to replace the timing chain with an upgraded one. Ideally, they should last the timeline of the car, but not in the evo x apparently.

Input shaft bearing:

If you are hearing a whining noise that increases as you drive and gets the loudest at around 40mph, then this is most likely the input shaft bearing from the gearbox and you will have to replace the bearing, which is not much of a fun job to do. The noise should go away as you accelerate and when you press in the clutch. Although, you can still hear the noise on some when you accelerate.

AYC Pump Failure: This is probably the most failed item on the car, and you can relocate it to an easier location for future replacement and to prevent it from failing again. Basically, the location under the rear wheel is a bad factory spot. Gunk, water debris from the wheels will basically get all over the AYC Pump and allow it to corrode and fail prematurely with an internal oil leak and the internal plate and or the motor will go out. This videos goes over how to replace the pump: https://youtu.be/vYEkQC3vgEA?t=132  Used ones sell for around 600-800 dollars, so a relocation kit is a necessity in my opinion.

Bad smell coming from Climate Control:

when you turn on the climate control you smell a gross fishy-ish smell, then most likely your evaporator drain hole is blocked. Obviously, you will need to unblock to hole to get rid of this smell. This shows someone cleaning out the drain: https://youtu.be/5A5WWKRbsHI?t=65

Airflow Sensor Failure:

In the early models, pre-2011, the MAF sensors tend to fail prematurely and you will have to replace it. However, I would try to clean it first to see if that fixed the MAF Engine code P0102 and the stumbling throttle.

Cracked exhaust manifold:

For some reason there have been a lot of reports of these manifolds cracking within the first years of ownership, so most of the cracked manifolds should have been fixed, however, you can still crack them due to the endless amount of heat cycles they go through. Weld the crack or upgrade to a tubular exhaust manifold setup. Welding it, however, is like putting a band aid on and it may crack again. SO, upgrading it would be the best option.

Extras:

The 2008 models had a very rich tune and started to get revisions that made a difference in 2011. Recaro seats only came in the pre-2015 models on the GSR Versions. Clear Coat peels on the surface with direct sunlight contact. It just seems like the paint is where Mitsubishi cut some corners. But if you wax it routinely, you should be okay.

Conclusion:

Overall, the Evo x is an amazing and a very track worthy car. But that does come with quite a few issues that can be costly. Namely the pre 2011 models can be the costliest. I would ultimately avoid those years all together. By mid-2011, Evo had fixed most of those issues. But I would stick with the 2012 and up models. Other than that, simple things can fail along with the AYC pump. If you are proactive, you can reallocate it before it starts to give you trouble that you could have avoided.

Tired of reading this, watch this instead: